Medical Biophysics GSU (@UofT) » Events

MBP 2010 Clothing Design Contest

MBPGSU — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:24:53 +0000

1. Submit your design – Details:

- only pdf, ppt or jpg images in RGB colour will be accepted (not CMYK, not pptx);
- Entries can be hand drawn or created on the computer;
- A maximum of 3 colours to be used in the design; no gradients
- The shirt itself can be any colour you want
- The design must be 100% your work; No copyrighted images. (However,
you can use the MBP logo, included below)

Design submission deadline: Sep 20th – email to jordan.jarvis@utoronto.ca

2. Following the design submission, everybody will have a chance to
vote The winning design goes on our MBP hoodie and/or seatpants.

3. Winning designer gets their hoodie free! Shirts will be available
by Geneva Park.

Good luck

MBP Olympics More Than Just A Game

Samuel Oduneye — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:21:00 +0000

MBP Olympics 2010 on Vimeo.

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.” Pierre de Coubertin

The words of the Founder of the International Olympic Committee, could not sound more appropriate. On Friday August 20th, about 100 students, staff and even some faculty members divided into 10 teams and fought valiantly at the 3rd annual MBP Olympics. These Olympics, unlike the slightly more famous ones you see on TV every four years, require an exquisite balance of physical strength, intellectual prowess, mental toughness, and water-proof clothing!

Like the beginning of every epic battle, the afternoon started with burgers, hotdogs and pop. Then the 10 teams (Barberians, C7 Hotties, Gangastz, Hedgeclippers, Lambda, Mouse Models, Photodynamic Super Humans, Rad 2 Ur Face, Short FUSe, and the Artefacts) ventured onto the main fields of Sunnybrook Park in an action-packed afternoon.

The events were scattered across the park as teams went head-to-head, rotating between events. Three-Legged Frisbee, California Kickball, Danger Zone were just some of the events that were featured this year in the MBP Olympics. The video and the rest of the pictures (see below), capture the intensity, passion and skills on display this past Friday, which I believe will go down as the best MBP Olympics yet.

Although, everyone was a winner in our books, journalistic integrity compels me to report the actual winners. Therefore, congratulations to Lambda Lambda Lambda for taking 1st place, Gangastz for 2nd place and Best Spirit award, and the vastly undermanned team led by Dr. Greg Stanisz, Barberians for third place. Also, a big shout out goes to the three PIs that were able to put on hold their busy schedule to participate in the events: Dr. Graham Wright, Dr.Anne Martel and Dr. Greg Stanisz. All of which, brought their many years of training and research experience to answer questions such as this brain teaser: “True or False? Oxygenated blood is red, deoxygenated is blue”.

I would also like to praise the organizing committee that for the past couple of months had to jump through hoops to put the event together: Janet Denbeigh, Sarah Cuddy, Arvin Arani, Firas Moosvi, Anna Maeva, Shawn Stapleton, Charles Tremblay-Darveau, Cameron Wright and Ian Pang.

The Romans used to say “Mens sana in corpore sano” (a healthy mind in a healthy body) and here in the Medical Biophysics department we take what take anything written in latin very seriously!

[Show as slideshow]

Join us for the 3rd Annual MBP Olympics on Friday August 20th

MBPGSU — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:33:42 +0000

SIGN UP TODAY HERE

GMCA Networking Night – August 20th 6:30-9 pm

MBPGSU — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:12:33 +0000

The recruiting season is quickly approaching, so now is the time to NETWORK, NETWORK, and NETWORK some more.

Join us to learn more about the management consulting industry and network with consultants from top consulting firms such as BCG, Deloitte and others.

Date: Friday, August 20th, 2010
Time: 6:30 – 9 pm
Location: Libra Lounge (391 King Street West Toronto, ON M5V 1K1)
Advance Ticket (until Aug. 20, 1pm): $12
At-the-door Ticket: $15
(All tickets must be paid in cash and will include one complimentary drink)
Dress Code: Business Casual

Click here to register.

To purchase an Advance Ticket at the University of Toronto St. George Campus, please email GMCA.UofT@gmail.com for further arrangements (Subject: Networking Night). Advance Tickets will be available until Aug. 20 at 1pm.

Life Sciences Career Development Series (LSCDS) presents: CAREER DAY 2010

MBPGSU — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:01:36 +0000

(from Christine Zhang LSCDS Seminar Series Chair and Communication Director)

Life Sciences Career Development Series (LSCDS) presents: CAREER DAY 2010

Our annual Career Day is an all day event containing skill building seminars, career development seminars, and company info sessions. The goal of the event is to provide a forum for attendees to gain new knowledge from and to network with successful individuals from a variety of industries. This year, our Career Day will be a combination of Career Discussion Panel in the morning and Career Fair in the afternoon. The Career Fair session is being introduced for the first time this year and is intended to provide a direct-interaction platform between you and the company representatives that are knowledgeable in the hiring process. The aim of this session is to provide opportunity to the companies to highlight upcoming job opportunities within the firm and for you to submit resume or CV to participating companies. (more info after the jump)

Date: Thursday, July 22nd, 2010.

Place: Medical Sciences Building, University of Toronto

Registration required at http://www.lscds.org/CareerDay.html. Space is limited.

LSCDS is a student-run initiative with support from Faculty of Medicine and the School of Graduate Studies.

LSCDS executives

Summer Fun In The City

ApurvaS — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:37:36 +0000

Now that the excitement over the G8/20 summits and FIFA is over, a lull has descended upon many of us. How are we supposed to fill our days now? Thankfully, there is always something going on in our fair city. I’ve put together a short list, by no means complete, of some of the goings-on and happenings in the city over the next couple of months:

Canopy Theatre presents a production of Twelfth Night at Philosophers Walk (behind the ROM). Its on this week and next, 8pm, student tickets are $8 and can be purchased through the UofTtix box office: http://uofttix.ca/view.php?id=649

The Warrior Emperor and China’s Terracota Army are on display at the ROM. Originally discovered in 1974 in northern China by farmers, the Terracotta Army is a type of funerary art buried with the First Emperor of Qin. It is estimated that the three pits contain over 8 000 soldiers, along with hundreds of chariots and horses, and date back to 210 BC. The Mausoleum of the First Emperor is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The exhibition at the ROM showcases many of the artifacts from the time of the First Emperor, along with 10 life-size terracotta figures. http://www.rom.on.ca/index.php

Summerlicious runs from July 9-25, so get your reservations in fast! Lunch for $15, or dinner for $25 is a great deal (and economically friendly for grad-students) at trendy t.o. restaurants. The full list of participating restaurants can be found at http://www.toronto.com/summerlicious

Have a long incubation period over the lunch hour? Why not take a walk to Nathan Phillips Square, where you’ll find a Farmer’s Market every Wednesday (local produce and fresh flowers) and international treats every Thursday (from $5 and under), 11am-2pm, until August 26. Noon hour concerts by local musicians are an added bonus!

For those with a little more time and willing to go outside the city, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival is a great idea. This season, Christopher Plummer (of Sound of Music fame) will be starring in The Tempest. PlayOn tickets at $25 each are available for those aged 16-29. Check out http://www.stratfordfestival.ca/Default.aspx for more info.

Recap: Medical Biophysics’ James Lepock Memorial Student Symposium

Guest Blogger — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:07:39 +0000

(By Mojib Javadi)

After months of preparation the annual Medical Biophysics’ James Lepock Memorial Student Symposium took place on June 7th. It was nice to have over 150 students, fellows and faculty participate in a student-organized event. With 34 posters and 6 excellent talks from the molecular biology, structural biology and physics streams, the symposium is a great opportunity for all of us in the department of Medical Biophysics to rediscover the great variety and depth of research that is being undertaken by our department. The morning started off with three great M.Sc. talks given by Firas Moosvi from Dr. Stanisz’s Lab, Monica Clifford from Dr. Moghal’s lab and Sarah Cuddy from Dr. Rowland’s Lab. The M.Sc. talks were followed by lunch during which segments of the film Naturally Obsessed, a movie documenting the daily life of a graduate student in the lab was screened. The poster session provided the most interactive and fun segment of the symposium.

From walking around during the poster session, it was quite evident that a very wide array of research is being done by our department, which I believe is representative of Dr. Harold Johns’ vision when he started this department. Jocelyn Stewart, Natalie Nady, and Anton Neschadim were selected by a panel of judges to give the Ph.D. talks, which followed the poster session. The selection process for the talks was a close race, as the judges indicated; there was a lot of great science to choose from.

The symposium ended with a keynote address provided by Dr. Lee Smolin, a well renowned theoretical physicist who was recruited by Dr. James Lepock to be one of the founding members of the perimeter institute in Waterloo. Dr. Smolin’s talk focused on ethics of research, about how we as scientists ask questions and conduct research. He warned of those who don’t take risks in their research and hope to succeed by practicing “me too” science. Dr. Smolin pointed out that one way to prevent the flourishing of “me too” science was for funding agencies to start taking risks and funding proposals that may at first seem too risky, but if followed through could provide a lot of innovation and progress. He also pointed out that it has become increasingly more difficult for young scientists to get faculty positions and start up grants, and how this trend needs to change if we are to see the scientific community prosper in the future. I hope that those who attended the symposium enjoyed it, and for those who were just attendants, I hope you are motivated by what you saw to present work in next year’s symposium.

[Show as slideshow]

Active Philosophy Workshops (UPDATED!)

AnnaG — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 01:53:52 +0000

(UPDATE: the correct the date is June 29 NOT June 2 to)

Lately I’ve been going to different workshops (networking, career related, etc.) but there is one that stood out and now slowly evolving into a hobby. The workshop series is called Active Philosophy. I am currently taking the foundation course called Know Yourself which helps people to understand themselves and their life purpose, to handle life’s situations with calmness and confidence, and much more. I’ve noticed that in a life of a busy graduate student there is little time for reflecting on life values, society and human nature. These workshops provide me with such opportunity, introduce new opinions and challenge my perception of life. I’ve also noticed that there is something common between scientists and philosophers, we always ask many questions. Anyone can be a philosopher, by the way, it is all about asking the right questions and finding your journey. So if you find yourself asking not only “how” questions but “why”, and not only science related questions but questions about life, then maybe there is a sleeping philosopher inside your mind and maybe you will also find these workshops interesting.

The next series of Know Yourself workshops begin on July 7 and 8 at 7:30 pm. You can find more information about it at this link: http://toronto.newacropolis.ca/events/course/

Monthly, the same organization (New Acropolis) holds Café Philo Events in Mirage Super Club at Yonge and Eglinton. Last time, we learned about concentration, meditation and mindfulness. The understanding of these techniques helps me in everyday life (especially in the lab). Now I am looking forward to the next event: To be happy depends on YOU! I would like to invite everyone who is interested to this event! It will be held on Tuesday June 29th at 7:30pm in Café Mirage. Here is where you can get more information: http://toronto.newacropolis.ca/events/cafephilo/

Boat Cruise – Wednesday July 14th, 2010

MBPGSU — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 01:41:18 +0000

Vote for MBP Olympics Events!

MBPGSU — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:43:14 +0000

1. Hunter Gatherer

This Scavenger Hunt event runs all day and each team will be emailed instructions in the morning for clues they need to solve and objects they need to find. The event is perfect for all skill levels with common, scarce and rare objects. Bonus points will be awarded for picture-scavenges!

2. Danger Zone

Team 1 tries to complete an obstacle course as many times as possible in 10 minutes. Team 2 has a limited supply of dodge balls to slow down team 1. All members of a team must complete the course and any team member hit with a ball must restart the course.

3. Three-legged Frisbee

If you thought Frisbee was hard, wait till you try three-legged ultimate Frisbee! The rules are simple but all-around fun is definitively guaranteed. Think you’re a Pro at “spinning the disc”, we might add some handicaps to even things out a little bit. Like adding an eye-patch to remove depth perception .

4. Nerds on a Plane

Put your engineering skills into practice by crafting an aerodynamic plane out of just your wits and cardboard. Points will be awarded based on the total horizontal distance travelled by the plane. Bonus points awarded if your plane hits Firas.

5. California Kickball

Remember playing this game in elementary school? Bring back the nostalgia and renact this game from your childhood. Some people know it as Soccer-Baseball, the rule are still the same, so even if you’re a beginner, you’ll pick this game up in no time.

6. The Missing Gene

So many genes in your pool but only certain ones will uncover the missing link! Your team must pick out the balls marked with clues to put together all the pieces and solve the puzzle.

7. Role Reversal

Gentleman here is your chance to experience first hand how difficult it is to be a lady and likewise, ladies you will get to run around literally trying not to bust your balls. Boys will wear a bra filled water balloons and girls will be outfitted with special underwear with two water balloons between the legs. Objective? Simple, get to the other side of the course with all your balloons intact.

8. Exocytosis

A new spin on tug of war: instead of moving the middle of the rope past a certain mark, each team will be enclosed in a drawn “cell”. Each team will have to try and pull each other out of their cell.

9. Quizzics

Do physicists know more biology or do biologists know more physics? This Jeopardy style game show promises to be a hoot! Scoring for the game is simple (read: no it’s not): if you’re a physicist and you choose to answer a physics question, the point value for a correct answer is half and the penalty for a wrong answer is double! The team with the most points overall wins! Be sure to diversify your team!

10. Capture the Flag

Really? You need an explanation for this game? Team B has to capture Team A’s flag. Problem is, you have to be quick and crafty otherwise the other team will put your in jail and you’ll be out of the game till someone rescues you. You better vote for this event, it promises to be LEGEN-wait for it…..DARY. LEGENDARY!

- MBP Students Union

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